The present invention relates to a closure cap for a stationary connector of a container, in particular a motor vehicle radiator, having an exterior cap element with a handle, an exterior thread element, an interior cap element and a rotary connecting device.
Known closure caps of the type mentioned, for example used for motor vehicle radiators, must be screwed on, or off, by several turns. On the one hand, this is somewhat cumbersome and is of a particular disadvantage in case where the closure cap is provided with a mechanical or electrical connecting line if its valve arrangement is operationally controlled. In the last mentioned case this connecting line must be disconnected for screwing the closure cap on and off the container connector, which would have to be done by any lay person.
It is therefore an an object of the present invention to provide a closure cap of the type mentioned at the outset which can be screwed on and off in a simpler way and which can be employed in various ways.
The handle and the exterior thread element are arranged so they can be rotated with respect to each other and can be coupled with each other via a ratchet-like rotary connecting device, which can be set as a function of the direction of rotation.
By means of the measures of the invention it has been achieved that the screwing on and off of the closure cap is achieved no longer by full turns, but by a back and forth movement over a few degrees of angle. This is easier to do and moreover has the advantage that it is also possible to apply and remove closure caps which can be used in connection with the application of operationally controlled valve arrangements, without their mechanical or electrical connecting line having to be first removed and later reinstalled.
The rotary connecting device can be arranged axially or radially.
A preferred structural embodiment of the rotary connecting device results from the rotary connecting device having a coupling bolt which is maintained resiliently movable in its axial direction in a recess of the handle, and/or with one side of the end of the coupling bolt which enters into the exterior thread element, being provided with an inclined face and so that the inclined face can be rotated in the recess preferably over an angle of +/xe2x88x92180xc2x0, and/or with the exterior thread element being provided with a collar defining bores which can be engaged by the coupling bolt. In this case the setting of the coupling bolt as a function of the direction of rotation is particularly simple if the the coupling bolt is connected, fixed against relative rotation, with a rotary lever.
If the rotary connecting device has a torsion protection device which is controlled as a function of pressure or temperature, a further structural and manipulative simplification results. In this way the torsion protection device is integrated into the ratchet-like rotary connecting device.
Advantageous structural embodiments of the controlled torsion protection device ensue from having the coupling bolt engaged or disengaged in its axial direction by means of a pressure or temperature dependent control element and/or having the collar containing the bores engaged or disengaged in its axial direction by means of a pressure or temperature dependent control element, and/or having the control element have a temperature dependent memory spring which, together with a restoring spring, acts on the coupling bolt or the collar.
With a closure cap provided with the with a hose connecting element to which the handle is fixedly connected an underpressure or overpressure actuation on the motor side of the valve arrangement is provided. The hose used for this and leading to the motor vehicle engine can always remain connected with the handle in this way.
Further details of the invention can be taken from the description which follows, in which the invention will be described in greater detail and explained by means of the exemplary embodiments represented in the drawings.